If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Humble Bundle #2 Breaches $900k, On Way To $1M USD

Phoronix: Humble Bundle #2 Breaches $900k, On Way To $1M USD

The Humble Indie Bundle #2 just came out three days ago with the Braid, Cortex Command, Mechanarium, Osmos, and Revenge of the Titans games for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X operating systems. Like the original Humble Indie Bundle, you pay what you want. While this unique game offering has just been going on for three days, the developers have already raked in more than $900,000 USD. At the time of writing they have banked away $911,134.35 and it looks like over the weekend they should exceed $1 million USD...

Last year I did an even split. This year, I did a split between the game devs and the HIB people themselves. I do respect the EFF, but I don't know how much I want to support the other charities, they seem a bit pointless.

I bought one of me, as well as a bundle for a Christmas present after trying the games. I already owned Osmos and Machinarium, but Braid turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I am fascinated with games that take a novel approach to traditional stables such as time, the mood and game play is innovative and it is frighteningly hard once you figure out how Braid actually works. The reversal of time isn't just for preventing death and death certainly isn't the only mistake you will ever need to go back and change.

However the best discovery I made this month in indie gaming is And Yet It Moves. It's I suspect best described as a platform game which is intended to be a cruel practical joke on gravity. You can literally rotate the world, which sounds like fun, and is, but it also grows increasingly confusing as the game progresses. It has to be experienced, I have literally never seen anything quite like it. Go download the demo and be confused and delighted.

I have not tried the last couple of games in the bundle yet, but the overall quality is really impressive. It is always a pleasure to see indie developers who support Linux bringing good gaming experiences to our platform. Looking at the bundle though it seems apparent that we have severe problems to address in terms of distribution. OS X and Windows both have a single download button. The games that made an effort to cater to all our strange choices, for Linux have up to 4 installation options. We need to do better.

I paid $35 for the bundle, 5 games, set my own price, they have Linux ports with no DRM, AND it helps the EFF/a childrens charity? HELL YES they've earnt my money and I will continue to pay higher than average rate for their products into the future.

Kicked in $50. My only real gripe with this is that it shows so much potential for changing the way things are done while simultaneously being treated as a gimmick/promotion and having a structure like a publisher selling licenses to individual users. After the success of two bundles (and a few broadly similar efforts in other media), I think it's fair to conclude that this is tapping into a genuine dynamic and not just getting by on novelty/shock value.

i think publishing games like this could be the future for indie developers.
i think the way wolfire is developing their overgrowth game ist ideal.
they try to involve the community into their developing process and keep them up to date.
this humanizes them to a big part of the game community and makes them pay gladly.
if you know there are real people developing this game and not some giant studio you dont really know, you are less likely to pirate the game.